By BEN FOX Associated Press Writer
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba January 20, 2009 (AP)
The Associated Press
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Guantanamo prosecutors want to put the war crimes trials on hold while the future of the widely criticized tribunals remains in doubt, military defense lawyers said Tuesday.
Jim Riches, center, who lost his son Jimmy Riches in the Sept. 11, 2001 attack in New York, speaks...
Jim Riches, center, who lost his son Jimmy Riches in the Sept. 11, 2001 attack in New York, speaks in front of other family members of other victims during a press conference following a hearing at the U.S. Military Commissions court for war crimes, at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 19, 2009. Behind him are, left to right, Joe Holland, who lost his son Joseph Holland, and siblings Andrew, Lorraine and Donald, who lost their brother Adam Arias. Two alleged organizers of the 2001 attacks on America casually declared their guilt on Monday in what may perhaps be the final session of the Guantanamo war crimes court. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, Pool)
(AP)
Prosecutors want an indefinite continuance of all pending cases while President Barack Obama's administration reviews the military commissions system and the legal alternatives for prosecuting suspected terrorists, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, a military defense lawyer who represents a Canadian being tried before the tribunals.
Air Force Col. Peter Masciola, the chief defense counsel for the Guantanamo military commissions, said the chief prosecutor, Army Col. Lawrence Morris, called him to discuss the proposal. Defense lawyers oppose an indefinite stay and would challenge the motion if filed, fearing it is a bid to buy time to preserve the system.
Defense lawyers want to scrap the Guantanamo military commissions and have pending charges formally withdrawn without prejudice, which would allow authorities to refile them later in a traditional U.S. military court martial, a civilian court or a combination, Masciola said.
The military has charges pending against 21 men and officials had said they intended to charge dozens more.
"The prosecution would rather see a delay because they want to keep the cases in the commissions process," Masciola said. "They don't, like us, think the commissions process is fundamentally flawed."
Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to confirm the defense attorney accounts, saying: "We do not discuss internal consultations among the trial parties."
A spokesman for the military commissions said the chief prosecutor was not immediately available to comment.
Both sides are scheduled to reconvene Wednesday for more pretrial hearings in two cases — the trial of five men charged in the Sept. 11 attacks and Omar Khadr, a Canadian accused of killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan — and "will continue until directed otherwise," Gordon said.
